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Table of Content

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5 Minutes A Day Guide To Blogging: How to Create, Promote & Market a

Successful MONEY Generating BLOG

5 Minutes A Day Guide To Pinterest: How to Create, Promote & Market a Successful MONEY Generating Account

5 Minutes A Day Guide To Facebook: How to Create, Promote & Market a Successful MONEY Generating Account

5 Minutes A Day Guide To Linkedin: How to Create, Promote & Market a Successful MONEY Generating Account

5 Minutes A Day Guide To Twitter: How to Create, Promote & Market a Successful MONEY Generating Account

Before You Go

Other Books by VIDDA Publishing

Connect with VIDDA Publishing

The SECRETS to

BLOGGING

How to Create, Promote & Market a

Successful MONEY Generating BLOG

by Penny King

BUSINESS, INCOME & SOCIAL MEDIA Series – Vol 1

Cover design by John Hodges.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Who writes the blogs?

Why blogging?

Blogs for making money

Chapter 1 – Blogging Basics

Let’s get started!

Creating a blog

Chapter 2 – How to Start a Blog

The design

Choosing the topic for your blog

Create an E-mail list

How to write a great blog

Main keys to creating a successful blog

Bad vs. Good blogging advice

Chapter 3 – How to Stand out and Produce Quality Content

Chapter 4 – Identifying Your Audience

Defining Your Niche

Finding Your Target Audience

The Demographic Analysis

The Customer Persona

Identifying Need

Chapter 5 – Traffic and How To Rank

Search Engine Rank

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Algorithm Penalties

Traffic

Chapter 6 – Getting Noticed and Partnering Up

Guest Blogging

Joint Venture Projects

Chapter 7 - How To Make Money With Your Blog

Gaining Readers

Google Adsense

Amazon Associates (Affiliate Program)

Making the most out of your Ads

Advertise for your Readers

Chapter 8 – Brand Creation

Why Branding is Necessary

Creating a Brand name

How to Build your Brand

Product Development

Conclusion

Before you go

This edition published by VIDDA Publishing Ltd in 2015. www.viddapublishing.com

Copyright © VIDDA Publishing Ltd 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of the copyright holder.

While the author has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate and up to date at the time of publication, anyone reading this book should note that this book is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon, as a substitute for appropriate, tailored professional advice.

For the reasons set out above, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, the author and publisher: (i) cannot and do not accept any legal duty of care or responsibility in relation to the accuracy or appropriateness of the contents of this book, even where expressed as 'advice' or using other words to this effect; and (ii) disclaim any liability, loss, damage or risk that may be claimed or incurred as a consequence - directly or indirectly - of the use and/or application of any of the contents of this book.

Introduction

Blogging... I don’t think that there is a single person out there, who has access to an Internet connection, that hasn’t heard about blogging, bloggers or been on someone’s blog. Even those that for some weird reason don’t have Internet, have heard about this phenomenon (yes, we can call it that) on T.V, where the news was broadcasted about a known blogger who managed to uncover some nasty secrets from the life of a superstar or a politician.

Yes, we’ve all heard about it, but do you actually know what a blog is? I bet you don’t, or at least not the complete definition. In reality, the word blog is an abbreviation of the word weblog, which is actually a website that offers constant and continuous information. These weblogs are of various types, ranging from personal, gossip, politics, technology based, sports related and religious, etc., depending on the person that owns it.

The information presented in a blog is generally updated regularly, no matter if the articles (known as blog posts) contain just a few words or a few pages. Usually, the content includes a mixture of text, video, links and photos or anything else that can help the blogger better express his experiences, interests, and opinions.

Who writes the blogs?

The people that are in charge of writing the blogs are called bloggers. When it comes to their abilities, some people might think that they are professionals focused on certain topics, such as technology and politics, or even people that are involved in different projects, or those interested in writing books. Even though some bloggers are actually a part of this segment, the vast majority is represented by the common individual no matter his age or his background.

Another important aspect to keep in mind is that the vast majority of bloggers is actually considering this as a personal hobby, a very time consuming one.

Here are some fun facts:

2 out of 5 bloggers are women

60% of bloggers consider blogging a hobby

1/3 of bloggers are over 45

Why blogging?

A 2011 study conducted on more than 4,000 bloggers, revealed the main reasons behind their hobby. Here are some of the most common answers:

They are interested in sharing their life experiences / their professional expertise with others.

They want to address an issue that they are interested in and to which they would like to hear the opinions of other people.

They are looking to obtain more information about some of their hobbies and to get even more involved.

Their aim is to become an active member of their community.

They are interested in starting a writing career or journalism.

To keep their close friends and even family members up to date about their activities and important moments in their lives.

It relaxes them.

It offers them the creative liberty and the possibility to express all their opinions.

A thing that all bloggers have in common, no matter what is the topic of their blog, is the fact that they have passion. It is the key factor that helps them to constantly write about similar topics.

Blogs for making money

Although some people actually write their blogs for free, there is a category that does it so it can earn money. You may now ask yourself how can you make money from writing about your own experiences or your opinions ... Believe it or not, it’s actually quite simple because money is earned by selling different products on your website, by hosting different advertisements or even by deciding to publish a short book about the topics they’ve dealt with, in their blogs.

As interesting and exciting as all this sounds, it is important to know that these successful situations actually occur extremely rarely and bloggers should never start writing based on these experiences, as they will definitely face a serious failure.

Online, there are literally hundreds of advertisements that promise beginner bloggers the opportunity of creating a successful blogging career that will help them earn money without having to invest too much effort, passion and writing potential. Don’t fall for these fake promises, mainly because making money is not that easy. But please don’t be disheartened as it CAN and IS being done by many people who have started where you are today. Yes, in the beginning, you will have to stick it out through the tough times, so it’s important to find a niche that you are passionate about until your blog becomes a success and that’s what we are going to guide you through in this eBook. We will help you through this process and give you the tools you need to not only make your blog a success but to also start earning an income from it.

Chapter 1 – Blogging Basics

Ok, you’ve decided that you want to start writing your own blog, but you just don’t seem to have any idea where to begin. Look no further; as this chapter is all about teaching you the basics of blogging that even your grandma will understand, it’s that straightforward.

Let’s get started!

Before discussing how to set up your very own blog, we should focus the reasons why you should take this decision. Here are a few reasons that may motivate you to start a blog:

Today, it is without a doubt one of the easiest ways to spread your personal opinions, news about different aspects of life and even creating debates on certain issues. If you do a quick search, you will see that there are millions of blogs on the Internet, and every single day, new blogs appear.

It gives you the chance to improve your writing abilities

It offers you another way to let the world know who you really are

You can also make money from your blog (I guess that for some people this is the most important reason – it all depends on the quality).

Creating a blog

To put it in just a few words, and as simple as possible, creating a blog doesn’t take more than 30-40 minutes and it’s a much easier task than creating a website, as you won’t need to know and use any type of coding. However, there are a few things you need to know in order to succeed in doing it as perfectly as possible. Here are five main steps you need to know and understand:

Choose a Blogging Platform

The most popular platform for blogging is, without a doubt, WordPress. It’s huge and it offers enough resources, plug-ins, and add-ons so you can create an interesting and unique blog. Let’s not forget about the millions of layouts, themes and design options that it offers. It’s quite impressive and extremely easy to set-up, but in case you get in a jam, there is a very active forum that will offer you the answers to all of your questions.

In case you don’t want to try out WordPress, there are other great blogging platforms, including Tumblr and Blogger. It’s all up to you to decide which platform you would like to use.

Paid Domain, or Free Blog?

Think very well about your future plans with your blog. Is it really a passion, or just a phase you are going through? Take your time and get informed before going further with your decision.

When it comes to free platforms such as WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr, you should know that besides all the great benefits that they offer, there are also a few downsides you need to take into consideration, including:

You will never be able to have your personalized domain name, meaning that your address (the URL people will access to get to your blog) will be quite weird and not attractive. Here is how your blog address will look like when you join WordPress: Yourblog.wordpress.com. The same goes for all the other free platforms: viddapublishing.blogspot.co.uk, etc.

You are not the owner of your blog. In reality, on a free platform, your blog is actually hosted by someone else, and if they wake up one day on the wrong side of the bed, they can decide to erase your blog, thus losing everything you’ve worked so hard until then.

When it comes to having a paid domain, you will be the only owner of the blog, and you will be able to do whatever you wish, including naming it after yourself (YourName.com) or any other interesting combination. A great advantage to all this is that you will have unlimited space to add any type of video, photos and themes.

I guess that by now you are already thinking about the costs, am I right? You shouldn’t worry about this because the costs are extremely low, around $4 per month, depending on the provider. It’s cheap, right?

Set Up The Blog (in case you have decided to self-host your blog and have a custom domain)

Let’s start by explaining exactly what a self-host blog actually is. The first thing you will need to do is to think about the name of your blog (the domain) and also about which hosting provider you should choose. Here are a few examples to give you a much clearer picture of the above requirements:

The domain = the web address (the URL). Example: Google.com is a domain

The hosting provider = the company that will help you make your blog visible on the Internet. Everything you will do will be saved so you don’t lose anything you’ve worked on.

Designing the blog according to your preferences

This step is all about teaching you how to customize your blog according to your own specifications. It’s quite easy, don’t worry. All you have to do is to click the Appearance button and then select Themes. If, by any chance, you just don’t seem to find something that satisfies your tastes you can always check out ThemeForest.net and choose from the endless options available.

As a personal recommendation, you should try and select something that is a bit professional, so it gives the reader the sense that he is dealing with a serious and focused blogger. If you have joined WordPress, you should know that it offers you a great feature, as it allows you to constantly change your themes, so that your blog doesn’t become boring to look at.

You should also keep in mind that the themes and design you choose for your blog should represent you as a person, but should also represent the topics you are writing about. You can’t add the image of a piano if you are talking about football.

Another thing you should take into consideration when setting up your blog is that you need to make it as easy to navigate as possible, otherwise, visitors will lose interest in reading your blogs if they have difficulties in finding their way around.

Collect as much useful information as you can so you will have enough material to catch people’s attention

Before you actually get started with posting your thoughts and opinions, you need to do a bit of research before adventuring yourself in this new part of your life. Mistakes will be made, no matter if you have a bit of experience or you are a beginner, but the most important thing is to always be prepared to learn and apply.

This is all you need to know for setting up your very own first blog. Now it’s time to get started and write something interesting. Enjoy your new blog!

Chapter 2 – How to Start a Blog

The design

Besides having quality content, there is another important aspect that requires the same, if not more attention than anything else: the design of your blog. The main aspect you need to keep in mind is that you need to maintain it clutter-free and above all, user-friendly.

The first impression is everything; it is what will differentiate a professional blog that is able to attract readers, to a blog that doesn’t respect its readers.

You need to make sure that your website visitors can easily find their way around the site, find what they are looking for or get subscribed, otherwise your work is in vain.

Choosing the topic for your blog

The first thing you need to consider before starting to write is whether you are interested in creating a blog that you can use to promote your company, products or services, or you are simply interested in sharing your experiences, your thoughts and your opinions with the world.

It is crucial that you are able to establish a niche for your blog, otherwise you will risk failing from the first month. The general recommendation is that you take your time and think about something that you are interested in and that you know and you can speak freely about. In reality, a blog is actually a passion.

If you are interested in more than just a topic, don’t worry, you can write about all your interests, but you should make a very clear separation between your different topics, by creating sections. Let me give you a clear example: you are interested in writing about clothes. In this case, you need to create different sections for men and women or if you only want to talk about women’s clothes, you need to create sections for dresses, shoes, accessories, sportswear, evening dresses and so on.

Make everything as organized as possible so that your readers may have the possibility of choosing whatever interests them.

Create an E-mail list

This step is, without a doubt, extremely important. Having an e-mail list is what will make the difference between a blog with subscribers and visitors and one that fails to reach its goal.

You may now be asking yourself where you should get those emails, right? Don’t worry about this, as there are a series of e-mail providers that will help you out. Here are two of the most important ones available.

1. Mailchimp

You should know that this ­site doesn’t charge a cent for the first 2000 subscribers and 12,000 e-mails. Unfortunately, after that, they tend to become a bit expensive. From 1,501 – 2,000 with unlimited emails, they charge $25, for 10,000 subscribers they are asking for $80 and for 100,000 subscribers it's $500.

2. ConvertKit

It is without a doubt one of the best e-mail providers available. Although they are not as big as other providers, they are slowly making a name for themselves. They are charging $49 for 3,000 subscribers, $119 for 10,000 subscribers and $679 for 105,000 subscribers. Whether you think these costs are high or not, you won’t be able to have a successful blog without an e-mail list.

How to write a great blog

Now that you have created your blog, it’s time to add some content. Make sure that your writing and your ideas will capture the attention of the reader instantly, otherwise you risk losing him.

When you are writing (either a small post or a large article), you need to answer to a few questions:

Is the title catchy enough?

Is my first paragraph interesting enough? It seems that the majority of readers actually judge an article by its first paragraph. If they notice that it is boring, and doesn’t offer them any interesting facts or opinions, they simply quit reading.

Is my content easy to understand, yet offers quality?

Here are a few steps you need to follow that will help you maintain order in the things you need to do, and which will also help you transform it into a good composition that is worth being read and followed:

Write – I mean, really write

Although you may believe that this is one of the easiest parts (after all, a blog means writing), the reality is a bit different. Quite shocking, right?

But believe it or not, this is the part that makes the difference between a passionate writer (even though he is a beginner) and a wannabe writer looking to make some money.

You will need to practice as much as possible, to write from your heart and mind, and especially, be honest with yourself.

Create your very own schedule and maintain it

Create your own segments when you can write (whether it is once or 4 times per week) and make sure you stick to your plans. Although you may fail in the beginning, be consistent and follow your dream.

This is how you will slowly develop the habit of writing, a habit that will definitely come in handy once you’ve managed to start your blog in every sense of the word, including the fact that you will be able to attract new readers as you will add more posts.

Talk about interesting things

Nobody likes a boring person or a dull writer. That’s a fact! Don’t start writing about your room or your cat, as interesting as they may both be to you, in reality nobody cares about them.

Try to do and visit interesting things / places or hang around interesting and active people if you want to have exciting and fun topics for your blog. Avoid the routine; you only live once!

From time to time, write a good story

Throughout time, stories were the connection between all types of people from all types of social backgrounds. This is also the case with writing a blog. A great story is, without a doubt, interesting.

Honesty is the key

Writing a story from time to time is just a way to relax yourself and connect with other people, but deciding to write fake information or made up experiences means that you have no respect for those reading your blog. It’s not a great idea to be known as a person that deceives others.

Main keys to creating a successful blog

Although all this information is basically common sense, and everyone knows about them, it seems that some people just don’t seem to consider they are worth being taken into consideration when it comes to successfully creating a successful blog. Here are the main ideas:

Never give up

If you are a person that gives up as things become harder, you should find yourself another passion, as this is something that requires a lot of commitment and effort. The difference between a successful blogger and one that fails is his ability to keep going, to never give up. Having a blog is not for those that are quitters.

Have a thick skin

In this business, you will see different comments such as; dumb, dull, stupid, lame, gay, etc., comments that may affect you. It is important that you don’t let yourself be affected by all these, as they are not aimed at you, personally.

If you are a weak-hearted person, it is better that you choose another thing to do, or simply avoid getting affected when you read these types of comments.

There is an old saying that perfectly applies to this situation: getting insulted means that you exist, not being insulted meant that you are ignored.

Have great photos

A perfect photo inserted in the right place actually is actually worth a 1000 words, and will make the difference between a successful blog and a failure. By including semi-professional photos, you will be able to transform your blog into an easy to recognize site, which constantly attracts visitors.

Unfortunately, not that many bloggers seem to understand the importance of this issue, and I have to say that it makes no sense to see people spending thousands of dollars for having a custom made website, and are not interested in spending $300 - $400 for a good camera.

Write with passion

A blog represents your passions, your interests and your concerns. When you begin writing, you need to be honest, concise and most importantly, write from the heart.

It needs to represent you, without having to offer private details of your life.

Bad vs. Good blogging advice

There are numerous people that will offer you bad blogging advice, not necessarily because they want to cause you problems (at least not all of them), but mainly because they don’t know how to deal with certain aspects. Here are a few examples:

Everyone says it is important to add value to your content and write about things that matter if you want to have visitors.

Have you noticed that not that many people seem to understand this affirmation? And yet they use it. Try to ignore them, because what you need to know is that your content should offer answers to different questions, offer results and even solve